Higher Sea-Level Projections: An "Opportunity" for Florida?
Posted April 4, 2016 06:45 am | Public News Service
MAIMI,
FL – A new estimate that sea levels will rise up to 6
feet by the end of this century could be seen as an
impending disaster for Florida - or an opportunity -
according to a science advocacy group.
The new ice melt information published in the scientific
journal Nature is
"alarming" to the Union of Concerned Scientists, with
Florida's coastal communities especially vulnerable to
the effects of rising sea levels.
The group's Southeast climate advocate, Nicole Hernandez
Hammer, says it's about more than just water levels on
the beach, because many parts of the state sit on very
porous limestone.
"So, we're not only getting flooding on the coast, but
we're getting contamination of fresh water sources, and
then we're getting inland flooding because of the raised
water table," she explains.
Hernandez Hammer says the opportunity is that the new
information creates a greater sense of urgency for
Florida communities, governments and advocacy groups
working on solutions.
She notes it will take a lot of money for a full scale
approach toward adaptation and potential retreat in
areas considered least likely to be habitable in the
long term.
The ice melt study predicts sea-rise levels twice that
of the original projections. But Hernandez Hammer says
Florida is uniquely positioned to create long term,
workable solutions that other regions can use to address
rising sea level challenges.
"We can also think about how we can adapt and then use
that information to help other places, since we are on
the front line of receiving climate change and sea level
rise impacts," she points out.
Hernandez Hammer stresses that solutions, much like the
rising sea level impacts, are currently in progress and
will work best with a combination of local, state and
federal resources.
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